992 comments:

Abby messed up something awful. Who in their right mind tells the cops about their using cocaine and weed a decade earlier if you're pulled over for a DUI? the DUI is wreckless , but blabbing to the cops is just stupid. She muddied up the USWNT's suit for equal pay a bit.

Maximus has an excellent trainer and a very good team. The issue with them is that they only play to win. The manager claims it is about development but it is really for the development of the top 11 or 12 players. They have no problem sitting girls for an entire game or only playing them 5-10 minutes a game, which happens more often then not. That is not development of all the players as they claim when they recruit. If your daughter is very strong and can get playing time, it's a great place. If she will be the 13th or higher player, then accept she will not see much of the field during games. At this age, most teams aren't all about winning, they are. As long as you know that and accept it, then go for it.

Please read article. Another simple analogy would be a law firm. Let's say two senior partners, one a male and one a female didn't have equal pay. Let's say the female partner billed 1.5million and the male partner billed 500k. Should the male partner make equal pay? NO.

Folks, there is something called revenue and for what it's worth, the men's side has much more coming it's way. This is just simple economics, nothing else.

Did I hear Maximus #2 in NJ? Thanks mommy or daddy for that. Congrats on the 4th flight in Jeff cup. Glad you drove 7 hours to play a team that is 30 minutes from your home. The only thing they have won within NJ is indoor state cup where 2-3 good teams even attend, and a small sided state cup. When you actually beat through a good amount of NJ teams, when you win your league, when you win something that is not in the 3-5 bracket, then speak up. Your a good team, nothing else. There are 15 "good" trams at the u13 age group, there are 3 very good teams, unfortunately you aren't one of them. Your 03s who are remaining on the team for next year are nut jobs. Clueless. You will have a very big wake up call. Good luck ;-)

so what about about female golfers, if they win 5 tour events a year, should they make the same as a male who wins 5 tournaments a year?What about two prostitutes, one is hot and one is not. Should they be paid equally for the same amount of work? why does the ceo of Jnj make more than the ceo toysrus? I'm sure they both work equally as hard.

I'm not sure there is any set of criteria that i've read from financial figures, to estimate of goodwill, to being the marquee sports team that suggest the women should be paid 1/4 of what the men earn. There is only one justification, that these are women, that many years ago their only place was in the kitcken, that while we enjoy having them in the work place, they can not be taken seriously, and can not really contribute very much. There is no way anyone knowledgeable about soccer would ever elect to watch the women's game versus the men's game. It doesnt matter that the men generated a loss while the women's earned a 7$mil profit. it doesn't matter about X world cups and Y olympics, and that women's soccer is probably the most popular, fastest growing sport in the country. These are women and they should be grateful for whatever w pay them. That is really the only justification I can imagine for paying them less. And its disgusting. Just vile. Does anyone actually think the men's team at any point in the next 2,3 years will be taken seriously? they just lost 2-0 to guatamala and almost got booted from World Cup qualifiers. I love them too. i do. They try hard. but lets be real, the women making 1/4 as much? Its prejudicial and they will win in court, and US Soccer will have a massive smear on its face.

FIFA outsted ex prez Blabber face basically said he didn't follow the game, and really didn't know much about Alex Morgan. Just shows the mentality of most to the women's game. After this last world cup, and the energy the US Women helped generate in Canada, this has to change.

It's all about Cash Flow as MNT and WMT under the same umbrella are ran as two different entities. In reality soccer in U.S. does not generate enough revenue at all. Look at the most recent NCAA final four (National broadcasted w/ numerous cooperate sponsorships with TV networks and commercial ads) = $$$ for conferences. ACC conference alone will get 40 million. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15071018

Same goes with the 4 major sports in U.S. (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) profits are coming from national recognition in the TV Networks and corporate sponsorship. Athletes make additional $ from Endorsements.

National Men's and Women's teams doesn't even get televised unless it's a World Cup or Olympic game. Plus with a 90 minute match of continued clock when is there a chance for a cooperation to purchase commercial time besides Halftime. Without Cash Flow for WNT then increase salaries are difficult.

The law says equal pay for equal work. The court will make a determination. IF a female golfer and a male golfer are employed by the same organization for the same work you can pay either less than the other based on their gender.

I do not think pro golfers are typically employees in the sense that that the men's and woman's national team members are employed by the federation, so I doubt this would ever be the case.

They have a better chance than other athletes and entertainers and I'd guess they win or settle. Easy way for the Federation to make this work is pay them all the same scale with some type of profit sharing. Going to be very hard and ugly for them to claim that it's not equal work.

It's should be all based on sports performance just like any other sport, you perform great you get a big contract. The only difference is U.S. Soccer is not contractual as the 4 major sports U.S. National teams can move you in and out at every training sessions. Why do you think there is roster updates every month.

306 Agree even though the WNT pulled up teenage girls onto the squad that are extremely great players there are 100's of potential College and NWSL players that could easily made the roster as well and been difference makers. So is there Child labor laws in affect since there is 17 year old players called up without some type of great compensation pay.

Rankings are completely subjective if you dont use a well defined, calculated metric like Gotsoccer or TopDrawer, others. I'm not defending them but they have a purpose mainly to feed parent ego, to give tournaments a preliminary way to seed stuff, and to make GS tournaments more attractive than non-GS events.

If you dont use a metric, the alternative is a parent who hasn't seen a team in years, if ever. And even if they did, would they know what they were looking at? would a team that lost 2-0 be considered "better" in the minds of the winning parents despite the fact that the losing team out possessed, out shot, out played the winning team who simply had, for example, a killer goalie while the losing team's coach was trying to teach the girls a new formation at the expense of being more competitive. Would parents see that quality or simply look at scores? Gotsoccer does not see the quality, just results. In 2,3 years, this all becomes a memory and they each go their own way, hopefully to fun, enjoyable careers at a great academic institution. I wish I had taken things more slowly with my older daughter as it was over way too quickly. Try to enjoy it a bit more, it really is an amazing time in their lives and your lives. It will be over before you know it. Screw the rankings.

9:51 I think you answered a different question. The one you answered is more valid for showcasing/exposure to colleges. Then it becomes an ecnl vs the world question. Most kids are developed at other clubs then go ecnl.

Also it was actual teams not clubs. This is more to identify the top clubs at development. What actual u13 teams will make your daughter a better player than when she got there.

Where is crush, never seen them play in any real event. Looks like they have three teams at this age, that tells me they are more about cash then training. And stallions? They talk about a one team wonder that was not even their team and the poor girls had to jump to 4 clubs before settling in for last two years.

The only people talking about how crush is a money maker, clearly don't know what they are talking about. I pay 2600 a year for crush and they train 3x a week, twice a week during winter and 6 tournaments both state cups and NPL league

The club also offers an extra two sessions in the winter and fall/spring for certain players called CAS. Only a select group though. My daughter was part of this so the last 8 months of our crush experience she has trained 4 times a week and plays as many games and tournaments like other clubs.

TSF SDFC and Maximus all cost 3000 plus. Crush have 3 teams, two who can compete (might not win) with any team in state. Next year their 03 team will compete with anyone around. Let's not forget crush u12 have won back to back state cup titles.

Don't guess.. Go take a look for yourself. There is a reason why their first birth year session has over 95 kids signed up for the 03 team. Only 30 of them being actual crush players. My daughter is safe so the more players, the better ;-)

5 players part of PDP (what gets you to ID2)5 players part of ODP3 players part of NTC (national training center- gets the likes of us national staff in attendance)

For a "club" and not an academy like pda or match fit.. Seems to be the place for individual development and reaching success. You find two teams outside pda that have that many players in participation in high level ID camps like the two nj crush teams do

10:14, Agreed! He's always been a pot stirrer up here, first it was for the Stallions and now Crush. Top programs don't need to tout themselves up on anonymous blogs. You have nice parents and nice kids, but you just never stop up here do you? T minus 90 seconds till the "its not Danny, you're wrong"

Crush is much more expensive than the 2600, they dump fees on top of you all day long, but so do other clubs.As for the u12 state cup, this was 9v9 and all the top teams played 11v11, nice try. All of the best girls have left that team and most of the others. Question, why do al your best players always leave?

Yes, but they are all jumpers. This is his 4th club in 5 years. Stallions, crush, Bulldogs and sdfc are just a bunch of English guys trying to make a living off of the wealthy Northern county people. The top 5 percent of all these girls always end up leaving. But the biggest issue is that with 4 or 5 competing clubs so close, they can never build the best teams.

11:16 you make a good point. Think about taking the top 4-5 from sdfc sta Maximus and sprinkle in a top crush and tsf kid or two. That team would be nationally strong. Seems these teams just cannibalize each other creating very good but not nationally strong teams.

11:16 Stallions have proven they can build the best team (Dynamite) in the past with arrival of their DOC (via 4 other clubs), now they hope to repeat it with Freedom. Its possible, especially when ECNL (other than PDA) at some age groups are very weak.

I'm not sure why posters here attack 9v9 play and praising "top teams played 11v11". Arent all teams going to be 4v4 then 7v7 and 9v9 for the younger age groups? Its more touches on the ball, in tighter spaces - better development, smaller teams, higher coach-to-player ratio.

What is the consensus on "playing up" like Arsenal. Is it better for development or not? Does it force kids out of their element and makes the 5% shine, or you end up losing potential talent, because outstanding kids cant build confidence, dont develop skills at the right pace? How many of the kids that were meant to play up, end up bench-warmers mid way through the season?

The comment about 9v9 was about bragging on winning state cups without any competition, nothing to do with small sided play.The only reason arsenal is playing up is because of the age rule change and they are a club with zero depth across age groups. Playing up is only good for a select few, most struggle if playing up on premiere teams. With the BYC, I do think you will see more girls playing up because they have already been playing against half these players for years. Question on crush - who will be coaching the premiere team at 2003 next year and will you combine the best of all three teams at this age group? I know most of the stronger girls are 2002 kids, so who will be coaching them?

Both STA and Maximus played 9v9 as long as they could - They have benefited from that enormously based on their performance.

Most arguments against 9v9 seem to be trollish, I'm sure they play other games with legit competition outside of the state cup. Maximus also won the 9v9 state cup (as did Rage Renegades before)- kudos to them.

So, unless you're the top player (and by that I mean Galaxy) it does not make sens to play up? Is it skill/movement or is it the reaction time/speed/physicality that you need to learn at U14?

I actually think playing up a half year as a team is not a big deal. Given the quality of edp already i think this will be good for the teams that do. Think about it this way. Sdfc rage will be an 03 team. Is it better for them to go and beat teams 8-0 or to challenge themselves and maybe lose a few games. I would argue sdfc rage would develop their players better by having them play u15 next year. Think its a disservice to those kids dropping down a half step. If you don't challenge kids they wont be strong in the long run. I would rather have my kid play up to u15 vs playing u14. Shes 02 though so shes got no option.

Playing could also be a negative, as you're going against bigger and perhaps stronger girls and you might struggle. Who knows. time will Tell. i think its contradictory given that US Soccer says play up with the new girls Academy grouping 2003s and 2002s together. Are thee rules requiring a certain percentage of DA teams to be 2003s so they dont get phased out? the very selection process they worried about with BYC will otherwise come into effect with DA selections some 2002s will be off to high school playing against kids who might be 3 and 4 years older on varsity. I worry what will happen to our team the following season when a majority of the kids are off to high school. I think our 2002 squad will end up being predominantly older 2002s, and my kid will end up without teammates, or fill in kids for her U15 season when it counts. The whole thing blows. The U13s and U14s should have been grandfathered out of this. Those National team selections for u13 and u15 are pretty much set by now anyway.

My kid played on a team that played up to u11 and u12. They struggled at first but after they got used to the size and strength differential they ended up winning the league for the last 3 seasons they played. Team is now a top west coast club. Unless you have small weak kids it makes no sense not to play up. And socially its so much better to play your school age. I wish my team was staying together and playing up.

Looking back at the teams that have played 11v11 early on - only SDFC seems to be doing relatively well - but they do play a lot of games (50+ for rage, 60+ for galaxy). I wonder if the rest dissipated (rush gray, barons, cherry hill) or betting on brawn vs skill did not work out for them so well.

Im excluding PDA here, because their program scrimmages internally in 5v5 and 8v8, including boys teams.

The USWNT mauled columbia 7-0 and looked the most potent I have ever seen them. Horan, Long, Tobin, Crystal Dunn. new faces, incredible skill. This new generation of players is at the top of the world talent pool. You dont mess with something that works, and works well. This whole thing is classic bad decision-making. Ther

I don't think it matters at this point who played 11v11 early and who stayed 8v8 longer. The teams that are good are able to attract new talent at tryouts so that they can cut their bottom players. Each year a few girls (even ones that were previously strong) start to lag behind. If you cannot replace the weaker players with stronger girls, you won't be as good the next year. Sdfc rage added a few quality players this year (and cut a few at the same time) which is why they are so good and they have to continue to do so each year to remain at the top. If they just fill all of their spots internally for next year, they won't be nearly as competitive IMHO.

SDFC does not play well any more against good teams. Too much churn. They beat up teams with 1/4 their prestige on gotsoccer, and then play close games against teams with 1/2 their points. Probably good time to jump on the team as they will need to refuel their tank.

950 NO WAY 2.5 hours one way is insane! My limit and many others are about 1 hour. Sorry but ECNL clubs train 3 days a week and 1 or 2 games on the weekends plus over night away games. At 2.5 hours you and your daughter could easily spend 20+ hours per week in your car. That's equivalent to almost 2 whole days per week.

If your daughter is that special of a player than it may be worth just relocating where you live.

instead of 2.5 hours one way, find a local trainer and do extra 2 practices a week. you just saved 12 hours. If you think that the local team is not up to par, ask yourself, how did your kid get good enough to play ecnl, on a horrible team. Maybe ecnl is not what she really needed after all.

If you need extra practice competition, play with good boys team. They will stretch your girls capabilities even more than ECNL.

With respect to geographic access to ECNL, using PF ECNL as a case study, there are currently five players across all age groups from west of the Susquehanna River. This number would have been seven, but two moved into LANCO within the past year. Expect the "West Shore" count to tick up by at least one, if not two next season. Of course, girls DA at PAC, or ECNL status for PAC would likely considerably shorten the commute for skilled players in the PA hinterlands.

Because it it a youth sport, a game, an activity. What is so inherently valuable about it that you would relocate to play it a certain club when it is played almost everywhere? I suppose if you had a child that was freak of nature that could go pro and earn a living, maybe. But woman's soccer? I guess everyone just draws the line in a different place. Enjoy!

119 agree! Is anyone at the Parade this is why the 4 major sports in U.S. are more marketable and draw $'s than soccer. It's crazy downtown in Philly right now makes you wonder if Philly Union would ever be celebrated like this if they won MLS Cup or Men's/Women's college soccer would win NCAA tournament for soccer I doubt it.

Forget DA/ECNL keep your girls playing multiple sports as you never know if they will excel in something more celebrated.

Ok. But I was going for something more celebrated than being great at a sport. Support a family, build a business, build a community. Building a team is great. Pursuing a sport is great. Are they important enough to relocate for? I guess to each his own but I don't see the wisdom of putting sports, any sports, on such a pedestal.

I'm 133 I would never relocate for a sport that does not provide enough of an income at the Women's level to support a family. Like I said my dd is multisport and I want her to stay that way until she commits to a school.

2.5 Hours what are thinking 9:50 you need a life and so does your daughter. But I suggest looking into the ECNL Discovery player status as a club may offer you that. I've seen first hand clubs in NY that have done this but with newly added ECNL clubs those specific players may not need to do it anymore. Players coming from Western NY state.

I did the one hour drive for ecnl. Its not worth it. practices could get moved a little farther away. sometimes practices were changed. next thing you know we are driving 1.5 each way because of traffic, for 1.5 of practice. stay close, there are alot of good clubs around. Let her do her homework. if she gets into a great school because of soccer, she better be able to keep up or she will never pay her bills after college.

If travel isn't an issue, which club in PAE should my daughter go with? We're within an hour of PF, CFC, and FC Bucks- Will cfc actually get the girls DA? Results-wise, PF seems to be much better. I've heard so many conflicting things about all of the clubs

The big difference between CFC and Bucks vs PF is whether your child is looking for development or exposure. At u13/u14, you might want to go for development while there’s still time. PF could easily lose its value as a showcase club soon, anyway.

CFC and Bucks have awesome coaches for the upcoming year. But, CFC is still focused on the boys. PF – it doesn’t seem to matter who coaches because they really aren’t teaching much. Everyone plays one position, one formation, in a rigid style. A girl needs to know the style/formation to get on.

Lots of pay to play rumored at PF. Lots of turnover and tears. An academy or ECNL at PA Classics or anywhere in Lancaster would decimate the player pool at PF. BYC and outreach efforts at the other two are likely to improve player quality and decrease it at PF. Also know that PF has been giving out this year’s ECNL spots since last fall. Makes their try-outs a waste of time.

Totally not true that the pf players aren't learning. Both of Coaches at u13 pre ecnl are outstanding. In contrast I have seen very poor sideline behavior from cfc coach but I'm not sure if he is same coach for next year.

The 3 PF ECNL coaches are truly outstanding. That said if your kid is not in the top half of the roster she won't get the same attention as others perceived as not evaluator. However they are open to player's improvement and reward it accordingly. Extra training etc can pay off. Penn fusion right now is the best place to be for the top 5 kids on any of the ecnl /pre ecnl teams. That said if CFC starts paying more attention to the girls that could change. They have some excellent coaches over there and the infrastructure is also present to make a improvements. Frankly their girls results should prod them into more action. The BYC may be problematic. Some of the CFC teams are loaded with older players. Penn fusion is more balanced and will largely reshuffle at the older ages and yes has been moving with the 03 and 02 years early to lock in the best "independent"players before tryouts. The 02s will be beastly next year. 03s have a lot of opportunity. I al sure they are hoping some studs show up to fill out and top off rosters at both ages. Saying tryouts are closed sounds to me like someone is either afraid for their kids spot or is from another club hoping penn fusion doesn't run all over them next year. Kids should tryout where they want tot play and where their parents can support them in going.

they went to the pre try out meeting and heard them say ECNL will be informed after the first try-out. Who does that unless they have already decided? That plus the 20 kids who say they've offers already.

Sounds like someone wants kids to miss other try-outs to weaken other clubs and leave the kid with no better options than the west chester money maker NPL and C teams.

The best don't go to PDA if Zarepheth is 2.5 hours from their homes...

If the kid is good enough to break into the PF lineup the coaches won't need more than 1 tryout to tell because she will have an impact immediately. It makes perfect sense that they would be able to name the ECNL roster after one tryout. Anyway, with NTC and Penn fusion coaches in ODP what diamond is going to show up unnanounced to tryouts anyway? Yup there might not be opennings for role players that's true.

If you're a top player you're not showing up to a tryout with 100+ players not having been seen before. All clubs make offers before tryouts and after the first tryout. Not sure why PF is being bashed for this. Par for the course up here in ny.

April 4th PDA Tournament prediction guy here (see above blog post). I hit 60% accuracy primarily relying on YSRs with some GS adjustments and personal observations. I picked 6 of 10 finalists and 3 of 5 champions. However, I did not have one clean flight, mostly on account of my PDA picks losing. At least Nova was a finalist. Thanks to the reliable Rush for coming through in the end.

It’s still too early to predict a winner in the Red Division. North United is now in control of the Blue Division after defeating Northern Steel. SDFC remains in control of the White Division. HMMS previously clinched the Gray Division. The playoffs are on May 7/8 at Kirkwood. Speaking of Kirkwood, this team may be one to watch. Although not ready for F1, it's ahead of all but HMMS and Rush in the Gray Division and has been improving over the past year. If it can survive BYC, it may be a strong contender in mid-tier flights going forward. This week includes a number of weeknight games as teams seek to makeup early season postponements.

April 10, 2016 at 8:05 PM , Mate, you just don't stop do you? My child is not with Maximus, but same as I've said last time you tried to start stuff with Maximus and SDFC, you should just stop. You're like one of these dance moms always looking for drama excitement. I dont think SDFC or Maximus talk any crap up here, you just keep attacking them over and over again. Why do you feel that will help your tryout recruitment with your 95 kids showing up to your open tryouts, why do you need more? and is this the way to go about getting it? VEDDER NJ CRUSHING IT!!!

PDA tournament was excellent. A tournament doesn't have that much control over referees or their calls. When you have a big tournament in central NJ, on a league game weekend, you pretty much have to gobble up every referee thats around to cover all the games. I doubt the Club assigns referees to certain matches in hopes of impacting the outcome. That's a bit too cynical by anyone's imagination.Weather cooperated, and there was great soccer.

No argument with the top flight. Big question with Washington United in second flight, particularly with Supernova out of PAE with a rating of 31.26 placed all the down in the fourth flight. Some adjustments need to be made between flights 2 and 4. Of course, DELCO is likely the last hurrah for many of these teams, especially those that will not be competing regional or national championships. The wildcard will be how many of the teams will still be intact after BYC tryouts.

My kid is a good technical player, but I recommended to her not playing selfishly and trying to play good possession. The players around her weren't very good and were trying to 'dominate' with awful scissors and stepovers.

If she never even gets the chance to play on the top field with quality players around her, what's the point???

1118 Because the Top field is the already selected promised roster of players. All the other participants are there for all the other teams. Like many have said they have chosen there players already from the ID Clinics.

11:18 why did she show up without a pre tryout session or at least call with the coaches? Sounds like she is a solid player, but one that isn't going to stand out and demand one of the few "open" spots that exist. My advice is get her to a training session at PF ASAP and see what happens. You guys with no older kids you need to understand that tryouts are generally not completely random comparisons at this age. Do some legwork and if she is technical and has a high soccer IQ show it at a session and she will have a good choice at being selected.

so heres a question - i have an 03 kid who has to switch teams - hers is breaking up. good player, npl level, not ecnl. and multisport athlete so not looking to this da everyone is talking about. looking for team within 30 minutes of old bridge

It wouldn't matter if she came to the ID dates. The birth year ID worked the same way. The top group was for those who went to PAID programs with club or coach for most of the year. Now the only way is to pay for entire year on a revenue generating lower team. Unless you know someone you pay.

@4:29- you have no clue what you're talking about. My daughter made the 03 team and did none of that. There were over 100 girls at the 03 session. Over 100 for the 04s right before as well (penn fusion)

We are not concerned w college scholarships or the entire. My daughter likes to play and our only ulterior motive is that soccer may help her get into one of the schools she likes w a 5-10 percent acceptance rate. How realistic is that for a very bright hard working student athlete? Is it too late for field hockey?

I counted about 70 players at PDA u14 tryout, heard they had over 100 sign up though. I don't understand how these coaches can pick from so much talent. I guess they don't look at their top 10 they know of from current roster who are 2003 players, but that still leaves 60 players to pick from. They have to miss a bunch and I don't think these coaches know the top players because they never play against the top NJ teams. Oh well, if my daughter doesn't get selected we are still in a good place and unsure anyway as the new DA is coming next year.

759 yes heard the same thing and the following year they merge those teams with Rush squads, amazing how one little business merger can draw so much attention. I'm sure it will calm down in 2 years and other clubs like PDA South, Copa, REAL will pick up unhappy players evolving door.

National players dads pockets are going to get deeper when she gets a full ride to college. And I am sure your kid will grow up just like you, posting on kids soccer blogs at 1130 on a Saturday night. Now that's pathetic.

buyer beware moment - my daughter plays for ecnl club (not pda). coaches left over season. countless players left. two coaches are listed for five teams. Spent one month with only one practice per week - ecnl and npl. no games over winter and the list goes on. putting it out there bc we are sorry we stayed another year.

look deeply and don't buy in because of the four letters, make sure you get what you pay for.

South Shore Select clinches the Red Division. With one game left to play, it has run roughshod over the rest of the Division going undefeated through 5 games with 23 GF and 1 GA.

North United clinches the Blue Division. With one game left to play, it has controlled the Division going undefeated through 5 games with 14 GF and 2 GA. At this point, North United can do no worse than a tie for first with Northern Steel, and if that unlikely scenario happens, North United wins the head to head tie breaker having previously defeated Northern Steel.

SDFC clinches the White Division. The only mar on its record is a scoreless draw with Rush Grey on 3/12.

Are you talking about WCFC? I really wish the club would get their act together, they could offer so much more. I think this is with most clubs and will be the same with the DA. These are not business people and none seem to be able to run a solid organization. PDA is rock solid, but come with issues too. They know they are the top club and get the best players, and because of this, they don't go above and beyond with training and amount of games played.

MF ECNL is a joke. All some people see is ECNL and they go running. Let them, their daughter will lose out on the development they would have had if they had stayed at other organizations with strong teams and good coaches. Having 2 coaches listed for their U13s to 18s isn't possible. Parents, be aware of other coaches leading most of the sessions or quite simply, not having many.

1237 and 253 why are we talking about Pre-ECNL teams Galaxy is the only legit team in that league there are plenty of better teams out side that private country club with much better players. If you match up the Pre-ECNL and Northeast NPL leagues to the EDP/NPL Flight 1 Brackets they don't even compare.

pre-ecnl is just that pre - why are you judging any teams in pre-ecnl or not - it all becomes relevant at U15. Now it is about training and learning the game. As long as there are enough quality teams in the league your club participates in, then your daughter is getting what she needs. And the fools that focus on Wins and loses know nothing about development - good coaches understand that kids are maturing at a different rate and that all need playing time to improve over winning - some teams around here play their best 12-13 players while the other players (14-18) travel all over, sit and watch. Is that development? does that make winning more important then development - when college scouts come and watch games they don't even pay attention to scores, they watch the players play - clearly winning is more for the ego's of parents and weak trainers

253 You are right on any given weekend a team in the Pre-ECNL league can win or lose the only mostly sure team is PDA Galaxy. Again there are plenty of stronger teams outside this league currently and will be curious if those teams attract even better talent after BYC.

10:53am it depends which club you are referring too. PDA typical turnover is rare as they get older U14+ unless that player game changer, plus you have to consider the multiple teams these ECNL clubs are pulling (PDA has usually 3 NPL teams to pull from - North, South, Shore).

I can only speak for our experience on my daughter's ECNL team. She joined at U-13 and there are only 4 girls remaining at U-15. Some were asked to leave/dropped to NPL - some left on their own. But getting there early is not the panacea.

The funny thing is that the girls who replaced them are not all better. Some are. Some quite frankly aren't as good as the girls that they replaced.

The culture is different at my daughter's ECNL club. It isn't a team. It is a pack of individual players who wear the same uniform and cooperate on game day. There are good things and bad things about that. It all depends on how your child handles it. It can be somewhat of a revolving door.

Daughter about to attend 2002 PF tryouts. I heard a rumor players have left that ECNL team due to the insane amount of drama on that team? Between parents too. True? I want to know what we would be getting into.

I have older kids. Boys have played in the DA and girls in ECNL. There is usually about 5-8 kids turning over each year from u13-u16 a couple at u17 and few at u18. I agree it is a very individualistic environment. Top 1-3 kids trying to get to national camp and a top 10 ranked college. Next 5 trying to prove they are in the top 3 to get same or at least a top 50 high percentage scholarship. 8-20 trying to get on or stay on the field to show for a D1 scholarship of some sort. It get the job done if the job is to get the top kids to national camp and top 10 programs and most of the remainder D1 scholarships of some sort (yes the bottom 3-5 will play d2 or d3) There is little team chemistry as a result of the inter team competition, kids coming and going, kids going to many different schools in as many as 3 different grades and the natural competitive nature of the kids and clubs. Not much warm fuzzy to be found in that environment. The DA will be even more focused on the top players I believe since it is supposed to be a cauldron for brewing national team players

Delran's head coach needs to step down due to behavior at soccer game when he refused to coach or talk to any of his team player during game.This is a paid coach making money from the team to be there and coach our kids. These girls are thirteen years old, grow up coach or step down!!!

If you are contemplating a move to the ECNL or national league team for your child, try to be as objective as you can about her abilities and where she will rank on the team's roster. If she is a top 3 player she (and you) will probably be happy unless the team is so weak that she thinks it is actually inhibiting her development and exposure. She will play the full game and assuming it's a competitive team, your biggest problem will be the other parents' resentment when your kid is off at id2 type events and the coaches are paying a lot of attention to her at practice. Your child will probably see the ball a lot if an attacking or midfield player because her teammates will be told to "get (your Mia) the ball".

The next tier down kids and their parents will feel slighted and harbor resentment toward the top tier. They will play 3/4 of the game or so and be really upset when the ID rosters come out. They may be upset being told to give Mia the ball and may actually refuse to involve that player. That will likely result in moving down a tier.

The next tier kids play about 50% They pretty much know they aren't tier 1 yet. They enjoy excellent exposure at showcases and they clearly benefit from the ECNL . They are pushed to improve by better players and they are on the field enough to find a good college match. This is actually the majority of the players. Probably around 10-12 They do feel pressure to perform and keep in this mix of players or they will fall to...

Bottom tier of about 5 players. Some are miserable. They are playing 10-15 minutes a half. Some of their parents believe they are really tier 3 players and are really poisonous. They are constantly harping that the coach is terrible and even sometimes say negative things about kids as in so and so had a terrible game Saturday...Some of these families are quiet and seem accepting. They harbor hope to move up and they generally are families of physical late bloomers hoping puberty will help the cause or new to the team and hope better training and playing with better kids will steepen their kids' curve over the others and they will move up. Many times this is actually the case.

Making an objective evaluation is why it is most helpful to see your player training with existing players to try and get a feel for where she falls in the pecking order. If an attacking player, does she score more goals with ease during the small sided than the other players? Is she beating multiple players off the dribble? Are the defenders backing up and looking reluctant to defend her? If a defensive player, does she "stuff" the opposing attackers frequently? Do you see attackers trying to attack the opposite side? Did any goal go through her space? If a midfielder, similarly is she winning tackles? Do her passes put attackers through to the goal frequently? How often does she turn over the ball? Does she score a few herself?Hard to determine these things at a tryout with 80-100 kids. Our experience has been that the ECNL is more good than bad for the majority of players. But hopefully you and your child enter with eyes open because its a different world than town travel.

When comparing ECNL and National League, keep these points in mind with respect to National League: 1) National League has a system of promotion and relegation in that participation is earned each year based on a team's prior year performance; and 2) National League requires team continuity in that at least 9 players on a current year roster must have been members of the prior year team that earned the National League berth. Therefore, if you are trying out for a National League qualifying team, understand that there will be very little turnover of players because of the continuity requirement and the team may not stay at the National League level if it does not continue to perform. National League is not a country club. Teams become members the old fashioned way, they earn it.

@912. Spot on. My daughter was bottom third. It's miserable. Instead of waiting to get dropped, she asked to be moved. Bottom third is just not being developed as well. they just aren't getting the attention or game time. Be realistic with your player, they stil have many years ahead of them.

@1127 We also saw some of the bottom tier kids lose confidence and spiral further away from the rest. It is a tough place to be sounds like your and your child's insightfulness put her in a better place.

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